Our Heartbreaking Choices

This book sounds like such a great opportunity to bring the real stories of real women who have experienced late-term abortion.... God bless them! I've also just finished reading this post by Amanda Marcotte on the RH Reality Check webiste. When I read this excerpt I related so much...

When your opposition is relentless and has no moral qualms about harassment and deceit, it’s exhausting to keep pushing.

I mean, it just becomes tiresome dealing with all the fringe fanatics when trying to reach the majority of people who really aren't certain how they fell about abortion. In light of the events surrounding the murder of Dr. Tiller, I must admit to feeling a certain amount of guilt for not sustaining my passion and fervor in defending our basic reproductive rights. Amanda goes on to say that if we stop or draw back because of these extremists, they've basically won. She phrases this so perfectly, in a way that rational people will understand:

We were wrong to be afraid. We have the moral high ground on late term abortion, and that should be obvious now. No one wants to see their wives, daughters, friends, or colleagues suffer the trauma of fatal birth defects or health hazards that kill or maim them. Few of us are sadistic enough to be party to laws that would force 10-year-olds to give birth to the babies of rapists.

I'll do my best not to allow those who wish to distort facts, manipulate emotion and minimize the experiences of these brave women & their families... we can never allow them to take women out of this discussion, no matter how mightily they may try.

40 weeks of gestation = labor and childbirth

I find it incredulous that the women who responded on the RH reality check website post by Marcy Bloom (love her) entitled "We Already Have an Abortion Pride Movement" were not aware of the fact that if one gestates a pregnancy, one will (provided a healthy pregnancy & labor/childbirth) give birth to a baby. Why, on earth, would these women have opted to terminate their pregnancies if not to prevent the birth of a baby? I know I've touched on this subject briefly with this post, but I'm ever amazed that these women were not aware of human reproduction. And it worries me. I worry because I wonder if there are other women who are not aware that if they opt to terminate their pregnancies, they will not continue to be pregnant. Shall we start a movement to make women aware that an abortion is the termination of a pregnancy (& that the word "terminate" means "end"?) Further, if these women wanted to have a baby... why would they have opted to terminate their pregnancies (isn't gestation how one goes about having a baby?) and if these women didn't realize that by terminating their pregnancies they would not have babies, then why would they have terminated their pregnancies? What did they think would happen if they had not terminated their pregnancies... that they would have had puppies? I suppose I shouldn't be so harsh, after all, studies have consistently shown that women who suffer from depression or other psychological issue's prior to experiencing an unintended pregnancy will likely suffer from those issues afterward, regardless of whether they gestated or terminated thier pregnancies... but... why such shock & awe afterward?

36 Years of Roe

This year's Blog for Choice topic: What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?

The passage of FOCA (Freedom Of Choice Act) would be one of my hopes, to be sure. In addition, I would really like for the focus of the abortion debate to be put back where it belongs, on the women facing an unintended, unwanted or doomed pregnancy. Listening to the voices of these women (pro-voice) is one way to accomplish this task. Further, I believe putting our energy toward better ways to help women avoid unintended pregnancy would be simply fabulous (including making sure that any and all contraceptive options are covered by insurance and/or medicaid.) And another thing that I think would be worthwhile is listening to the women who may be faced with an unintended, but wanted pregnancy and helping them to find a way to gestate their pregnancies if that is their wish (prenatal care and/or economic help.) My hope would be that every woman is able to decide for herself the best course for her pregnancy and also be sure that women (in consultation with their doctors) have the ability to make any medical decisions involving her pregnancy. Full bodily autonomy/bodily integrity is my hope!

Exhale

Aspen Baker's Experience with Abortion. Exhale has such a fabulous mission... let's all pull together to end the silence and stigma that currently surrounds abortion. Shall we...

One in 3

This makes me wish that I lived in the Dallas area... I would love to see this play! Hell, I'd love to have played any part in it's production. Just seeing this and knowing that others are willing to end the stigma surrounding abortion makes me soooo happy!

Another try in South Dakota

Just a few of the reasons to vote NO on Measure 11: No exceptions if baby wont survive outside the womb; Women can be forced to carry their pregnancies to term; Exceptions for "health" are dangerously vague.

If you'd like more information, please visit the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families site.

If you're wondering how this ban will affect women, here is just one excerpt from a Doctor in SD (one of very few) who perform abortions for seriously ill women...

Dr. Buehner is an obstetrician and gynecologist from Rapid City, SD who opposes the abortion ban. Buehner has previously stated that he would no longer perform abortions for seriously ill patients if the abortion ban passes, at the risk of spending 10 years in prison. He said that the phrase “accepted standards of medical practice is so vague and nebulous that no physicians I know, myself included, would take that chance.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/12/08] Such a situation would have chilling effect on a doctor’s ability to properly care for his or her patients.
In the video, Dr. Buehner says, “It’s a very difficult decision for any woman to make, but especially for women with health complications in pregnancy. […] [Under Measure 11] the decision would probably be made by attorneys, rather than the physicians or the patients themselves.”

I don't know how these anti-abortion fruitballoons would feel about having non-medical personnel make their private medical decisions (perhaps they'd be just A-okay with it) but I would prefer that every single one of my medical decisions were made by myself after proper counsel with those whose lives have been dedicated to medicine. I'll keep the legal decisions for those who have dedicated themselves to the law.

Her Good Abortion

Erika Lutz is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction and wrote about her abortion experience; called "My Good Abortion"... there is also audio found here if you'd rather listen. I so love women who share their experiences with abortion - good, bad or indifferent we must end the stigma surrounding this medical procedure.

a letter worth reading

please take the time to read this...just click on the title. very well stated.

PRO-VOICE

This is what I've been saying for the past ten years... the difference in this "debate" will be the voices of women who share their very personal and private experiences with the world!!!

GO, PRO-VOICE!!!!!!

Dr. Mildred Hanson

On pre-roe abortions:

On her "what if":

God Bless You!

The death of a stigma

I am so pleased that there are so many people who share my belief that we must eliminate the stigma associated with abortion. There are so many women who have had abortions and it is such a beautiful thing that we live in a time and a place where speaking openly about your experience (good, bad, indifferent) is not only permitted, it is encouraged. Thank you to all of these women for getting out the word that abortion can be a normal part of our reproductive lives... God Bless!

• I'm not Sorry
• Project Voice
• Voices of Choice: Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
• Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades
• My Good Abortion
• The Abortion Conversation Project
• The Abortion Access Project
• Many Voices, Many Choices
• Your Abortion Stories - Abortion Clinic Days
• Sunshine for Women - Abortion with an Attitude
• The Wisdom of Abortion
• Abortion on Demand and Without Apology
• The Abortion Diaries
• Women Claiming the Power of Pregnancy - women who have chosen abortion and pregnancy at different points in their lives.
• Conversations with God
• Prenatal Testing: Two Stories
• My Late Term Abortion
• Unexpected Pregnancies: Personal Stories
• Our Abortion Stories